Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-01-31
ART OF DIE-SINkING.
a TALK WITH AN OLD NEW YORK
MEOALLIST.
The Seal of the Confederate Treasury De
partme mt Taking the First Impress
sion - Making Dies and Striking
on Medals-Desigus.
New York SUM-

ing over the collection OF political medals
and tokens belonging to Robert H witt, Jr
Mr.. Hewitt picked up from the tray what ap.
pearei I b, the impression of a seal on lead
As lie held up the piece the reporter saw
in Ioli relief a palmetto tree in the middle
of the leaden circle. The inscription near
the upper rim was Confederate States of
America an on either side Of the palmetto
Treas Dept"
That" continued Mr. Hewitt 'iS the
first lmIrss.i,n ever taken from the
original seal of the Confederate treas
ury department. The seal was cut
hy the me iallist and die sinker
George IL Llvett-Oli George Lovett now
but brisk and active when he cut this
seal | think he began work on it about a
month before Fort Sumter wa, fired on. He
also did the seal for the state Of Virginia,
Of which this is an impression" and Mr..
Hewitt showed the impress on lead of the
following de ign: An AmlEonian figure
trampiny upon a PROSTATE man, from whose
head a crown i falling. The inscriptions
are: Virginia, Liberty and Union" and
"Sic Semper Tyrannis.' Ii is almost iden-
tcal with the original seal Of Virginia but
in that zeal the crown lies on tue ground.
"Tnere Were curious circumstances con-
nected with the ordering of the treasury
SEAL continued Mr.. Hewitt. "Lovett can
tell you all about it"
Following Mr. Hewitt'S directions, the re-
porter soon found himself in a little Office
on the third floor of Broadway building
Seated at a long, narrow table near the
window, and peering through a magnifying
glass adjusted SO that a circular piece of
steel heli by clamps was within its fOcus
sat n man busily at wor on the steel with a
small instrument His face was partially
turned away, but his gray hair showed him
n be well advanced in years
The reporter spoke of seeing the first i'm
preston of the Confederate treasury seal.
Then you know Mr. Hewitt! If he hadn't
been so eager about it | never would have
dare{ to take the impression. You see, !
was carefully watched A total stranger,
whom ! have never seen since then nor heard
If in any way, came t. me with the design
and orlere the seal After the long lapse
time | can remember him only a tall and
ark Nearly all the time / was cutting
the seal he sat in the Office
watching the work. He seemed
xceedingly anxious that should finish the
job as soon as practicable, and at the same
time he didn't want any of my other custo-
mers to see the de ign On one of the very
few occasions. when he ha / left the office
for brief space of time Mr. Hewitt hap
pened in. | knew him 70 be an enthusiastic
numis matist. So let him see the design
and the seal which had almost finished.
only the final touches, if remember Alright,
being wanted. Mr.. Hewitt'S numismatic
enthusiasm was at once aroused. | could
not resist mis- request for an impression. |
had a dipper Of molten lead on the fire, and
poured the lead over the seal Thus was
taken the first impression Of the seal OF the
Confederate treasury department. IL was
barely cold and in Mr.. Hewitt's pocket
before the stranger entered. / made the
seal for Virginia, and curiou>ly enough
that for West Virginia. When Virginia
seeded the orgiH.hl must have been lost,
Otherwise ! can't account for the order
received, nor do know why the slight
change from the original should have been
wanted
The reporter asked Mr. Lovett If there
had been any change in methols since lie
had been in the profession.
I'VE formerly cut on steel bound with
iron. SO that. il the steel cracked, the iron
wOuli hold the pieces together. But since
then tie quality Of steel has been greatly
improved so that the binding can be dis
Tensed with. The metal for our work now
comes in round or octagOn-shapei bars from
six TO fifteen feet long. We saw off piece
of the bar tor each design we have to cut
Medals, Of course require two dies We
strike of the medalS on powerful screw
preSse. Hard metal We are Oblgei to an
neal from six TO ten times before We can get
a clear IMPRESSION
Then much time must bs consumed in
striking off the meiaIsl'
aye. When the medal is a fine one and
careful work is required, ! rarely strike off
more than four or five medals a day. But
that kini Of work isn't called for
very often nov. The demand for medals
has increased wonderfully, but people
want them small and cheap Work has
to be done quickly now. Orders are
coming in from all over the country. am
constantly sinking dies for medals to be dis
tributsd aS prices at agricultural fairs. col
lege cOmmencemsntS, musical priZs contests,
pr.zs drills, or u be sold as memorials al
centennial celebrations. Here, for instance,
is a medal | have cut for the Ala bama
state fair. The diverse repre-, ents the arms
OF the state; the revere a scene On a cot
ton plantation. The wreath around it is
composed OF wheat, corn and rice. For
merly orders were fewer, but the designs
were more elaborate. Most of the des gns
that come TO me now / can cut in a week
many of them in day or two. Contrast
that with the two months and half spent
on the cable medal That medal was or
derei by the cham ber of commerce to COM
memorate the succe- -sful layIn of the Field
cable. | ,h1ul think that $1,000 worth of
gold was put into the limited number of
gold copies struck off. They were presented
to Mr.. Field, the officers of the vessels
which took part in laying the cable. and
other, prominently concerned in the en-
terprsa
81 have designed some curious pieces in
my day. remember that in 1870 the issue
of the S,-cailed shin-plsSterS email political
medal-l tcgan. One which | struck off rep
resented Jackson coming out of a safe and
carrying bag of money. The inscription
was: Il take the resp visibility. During
the war designed the large medal presented
to Maj. Anderson for hi defense of Sumter,
aud that concentrating the victory Of the
MOnitur'
In what metals do you generally strike
off your IN .dals''
"Mo>t commonly in white metal, which
closely re~emblsS silver, and retains its lus-
ter for q long time. For presidential cam
paignS or any important celebration die
sinkers get out little white metal me ials
with tue huSts Of the Saudidates or some de-
signs CONNIE mOrative of the celebration.
We strike these meial~ Off by the thou
sands Thev ara hawked about on the
street and sold bv fancy dealers. Be ,ides
white metal we use br pnz', or more properly
speaking. brol Ze stained copper The pre-
ci us metals are not often called for"
as there any favorite line of desgns"
IF rmerly it was considered the thing
10 put heat OF Washington on a metal il
YOU Coud find any pretext for so doing.
Now. the arms of the state in which the fair
or celebration occurs Is most frequently in
cluded in designs"